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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27538132">when you say it like that</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyteague/pseuds/peachyteague'>peachyteague</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Game Grumps</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Two Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:29:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,910</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27538132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyteague/pseuds/peachyteague</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>two shot - you’re usually torn between regretting what you did ten minutes ago and fearing what's gonna happen in ten years, so being in the moment is not your forte</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dan Avidan/Reader - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>when you say it like that</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>so ya know, half RPF, half not really. half request, half cobbled together nonsense. summary courtesy of whitney cummings. this is part one. part two to come soon.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
<p></p><div class=""><p>Arin barely makes it into the main office before you spin in your chair, pointing both dramatically and accusingly at him. His first reaction is to run. That will only end in a chase where you either tackled him to the ground or he locked himself in the bathroom, once again. He’s scrambling through his Rolodex of ways he screwed with you recently and he can’t come up with one that would truly bother you so much you would feel the need to accost him almost instantly about it. Unless...</p></div><div class=""><p>“Fucking Ross,” he sighs, rubbing his hands against his face.</p></div></div><div class="">
  <p>You raise your high brows, a high-pitched <em>mhm</em> coming straight from your throat through closed lips, “You did a bad!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“No! I only did a bad if he goes through with it,” he’s very quick to counter, looking at the Power Hour room with raised eyebrows, “Which he won’t. He keeps saying he’s gonna but he <em>never </em>does.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Keeps?” eyes widening with confusion, “I’m sorry. Could you explain to me what that means?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Which obviously he wouldn’t but he’s thankfully saved by the door opening and mop of hair with a familiar smile poked his head out, “Hey bud, could we finish- Oh hey!” his attention instantly turned to you.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It made your cheeks hot, “Hey!” you manage to force out, pretending like your guts aren’t all twisted up, “You can have him back. He has been thoroughly uninteresting,” looking at your boss pointedly as he turns on his heels and heads back towards the door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know you usually head out kinda early,” Dan keeps talking, scooting lightly to be side stepped around, “If you’re not busy would you mind sticking around? Just till the next break. I wanted to talk to you about a couple things.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>How he could look so relaxed confused you? Just the idea of being alone with Dan for any extended period of time made your cheeks heat up and your fingers begin to twitch, “Like you have to ask.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Four words you proceeded to obsess over even though his smile was that wide, goofy one that could only ever be genuine as he disappeared back into the room. The logical thing to do would be do extra work, instead you obsess over it. Which you shouldn’t, there was a list of embarrassing things you’d done since arriving at Grumps, both for the show and being natural a bit off kilter yourself, and that had been the tamest of them all. But it happened today and it’s because of-</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Your phone vibrates. Your fingers slide across the screen. <em>He do it yet?</em> You roll your eyes, shaking your head at the screen before very happily sending a middle finger heavy selfie in response. <em>So no? </em>Your thumbs fly quickly across the screen. <em>Fuck off and die.</em>Tossing your phone loudly across your desk, pressing your hands to your face as you spun quickly in your chair, willing yourself to take long calming breaths. It wasn’t Dan asking you out that was the problem, in fact it was borderline a dream come true and there in lie the issue; how you would inevitably fuck it up?</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Dan and Arin’s loud voices heading towards the bathroom drew your attention, placing your feet on the ground, and trying to relax. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Over and over until you could almost trick yourself that you were calm. <em>Almost</em>. The second he walked in with that goddamn smile, your stomach exploded with all manner of flying creatures and your face was on fire.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well, hey there, sugar plum,” he says, which is a whole other thing you couldn’t even convince yourself to get into, lest it make you entire being explode, “You weren’t bored were you?” eyes flicking to your abandoned phone with a look of only mild suspicion that disappeared when you shook your head violently, “So,” how he can look so calm and collected you never knew, casually leaning against the doorway between your desk and the hall, “I keep trying to ask you to dinner and then completely pussying out,” poking fun at himself enough to ease a bit of your anxiety and make you smile, “I figured I’d ask you to dessert instead.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Huh,” trying not to focus on how the word left your mouth without your permission or his expectant look, “I mean, yeah, dessert is honestly better,” nodding slowly, “Like tonight?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He shrugged, “We’re ordering food. I got a counting my eggs a little too early cheesecake in the fridge...” what exactly were you supposed to say? “I thought Arin was screwing with me when he said you’d freak out this hard.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m just,” sighing, at least he knew what was going on, which was it’s own special brand of uncomfortableness but took the need to be a completely function human being from the room, “I’m not good at the guy thing.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Hey me either,” taking a few steps towards your chair, “You share your hopes, your dreams, and then he won’t even look you in the eye during sex? I keep telling him we should go see someone,” rolling his eyes dramatically, “Good luck with that.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“His loss,” it’s two words but you toss it out with some comfort and his response is to offer his hand. You slip your hand into his, even if the break room is <em>literally </em>around the corner, “I told you that you did a bad!” you toss over your shoulder to the no doubt still open door.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“FUCK!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>*</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Dan is tucking away the cheesecake - a whole slice and a half left- when Arin starts shouting down the hall that they need to get back to work. From your place on the counter you can see the digital clock of the microwave directly in front of you, your companion and ignorance had been blocking it before, and it’d been a little over an hour. Which was an extraordinarily long break when it came to film days, some sort of break was being given due to the circumstances but no more it seemed. You sat on your hands when he shouted back, that goofy tone laced with actual annoyance as he did so well, and spun back to look at with you smile that made you wonder if perhaps you had imagined the interruption.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Yeah, I didn’t think this one out very well,” you shook your head, “I just really didn’t want to whuss out again.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well,” shrugging as the rubber heel of your sneakers hit the cupboard door, “I liked it. Just two people and a delicious dessert.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Thought that might be more your style,” resting his hand on your knee, “This is <em>normally </em>where I would kiss you but...”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>As if one cue there was garbled shouting from down the hall, “And it’d be weird at work.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“But not weird at my place for dinner,” as if he had known that’s what you would say, maybe he had the same ooky feeling about it, “Which we will plan while we no doubt text ridiculously late.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Like teenagers,” yanking one of your hands out from underneath your backside and slapping it on his, “You know he’s gonna make these last few hours <em>actual </em>Hell right.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Now who’s job is it to be funny, huh?” tapping his back pocket, which no doubt contained his phone, purposefully, “You better text me. I mean it,” walking backwards down the hall and pointing at you, “Dinner. And then I’m gonna press my face right against your face.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Little fucking weirdo,” you laughed, hopping off the counter only after you were sure the door had closed. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You’ve got enough time to get your stuff together and in a Lyft before the first text comes in. Which is exactly what happens. <em>He’s jealous</em>. No trust that you’ll text him first, which in all honesty is was exactly right about. <em>He’s gonna make me tell him all the details. Just kiss and get it over with already</em>. The rolling eyed emoji no where near as good as yours but they’ll have to get it across. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It comes in bursts through out the night. Quick minutes of lightning fast responses followed by long bouts of nothing. You tried not to think too hard in those moments. Just because Dan was <em>Dan </em>and you were inexperienced didn’t mean you had to be a complete and utter nut job about it. You made dinner, did dishes, folded laundry, while YouTube blared in the background. When he asked what you were doing you had said watching some Unsolved episodes but you had little to no willpower when it came to the man and whether you liked it or not Doki Doki Literature Club as done by him and Arin was a regular play through on your account. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Teeth brushed, hair dealt with and snuggling down into your bed to sleep the flurry of texts starts. <em>Are you asleep? </em>Followed quickly by; <em>Oh it would really suck if you were asleep</em>. You laughed. rolling on your side and laying the phone on the pillow beside you so you had to use as little effort as possible to respond. <em>Not quite</em>. You roll your bottom lip between your teeth, waiting for the next words to pop on screen. <em>I’m sorry it took so long to ask you out. </em>You exhaled slowly, not having prepared yourself for it and feeling a bit more confident, some mixture of him so far and the fact you were texting tacked on just a little bit more bravery than you had anticipated. <em>I’m glad you did. At least pussying out means you were trying. </em>You twiddled your thumbs after saying, making your lip really work for its survival when they tapped against the screen quickly. <em>I’ve pretty much been waiting for you to do that since day one</em>. Watching the dots stop and disappear. You know it’s probably because of something Grumps related but it still makes you groan. Rolling on your back, another embarrassed noise coming from your throat as you threw the crook of your elbow over your eyes. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You’re almost asleep, the sudden memory you have to plug your phone in to charge mixed with it vibrating you rousing you from the almost slumber. You might’ve even ignored it if it wasn’t exactly who you hoped it’d be. You blinked  few times, squinting at the screen. <em>I was gonna but Arin said it’d be too much. Sweet dreams, sugar plum</em>. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>*</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You wake feeling like a motherfucking Disney princess, not even the fact you’ve overslept just a little bit. You spend a little more time on your hair and make up, dressing just a little more deliberately. You’d be late, having been ridiculously early since you’ve started you think you’ve earned showing up just a little bit late. You’ve got your morning drink in your thermos, satchel slung over your shoulder and are about to open the Lyft app when there’s a honk from in front of your cottage as you had taken to calling it. Which meant someone <em>had </em>to be in your unused, falling apart driveway. Screwing up your eyebrows you peaked through the side window, surprised to see the four door with a familiar mop of curls looking <em>incredibly </em>twitchy. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Don’t sing,” you mumble to yourself, stepping outside with a smile and making sure to triple check the lock behind you, “This is nice!” you say instead, which doesn’t seem much better.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He grins, twiddling his thumbs against the steering wheel, “You seem like the kinda gal who can appreciate a small but thoughtful gesture,” waggling his eyebrows when her rolled your own eyes and climbed into the passenger seat, “Also, Arin said you hadn’t shown up yet and demanded to know how long we’d been talking.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m not even technically late yet,” you huffed, pulling your seatbelt into place and turning to look at him, “I’m starting to wonder if you really meant it when you said you two were getting that divorce.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“It’s complicated, sugar plum,” he sighed, reversing out of the concrete slab and onto the neighborhood road towards work, “You know we’ve got a YouTube empire, I’m sure there will a be NDA,” your phone buzzed and he shook his head, “You’d think I just did this out of nowhere,” you swiped your thumb across the screen. <em>He better have picked you up, “</em>What’d he say?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>And that’s what scares me</em>. You shove your phone into the bottom of your bag, determined not to let your boss ruin a good morning where you almost felt confident. If only because the Disney princess feeling had not faded. Turning your attention to the grinning man in the driver’s seat.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Dumb Arin shit,” you said, rolling your eyes. <em>Careful. I have powers now</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“What?” you finally asked, watching the corner of his eyes squint, “<em>What?”</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p><em>“</em>You are, in fact, holding my hand,” turning your eyes suddenly to the console where indeed your fingers you entwined, “I mean, I started it but I just thought you’d like to know.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Is this your plan?” rolling your head against the seat to keep your eyes on his with minimal work, “Do sneaky things to make me comfortable. Because that could work.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“That’s the thought!” squeezing your laced fingers lightly, “I get it. I mean, I don’t <em>get </em>it but I get it. It’s not like it’s a secret the last few guys you dated were...” bouncing his brows in an attempt to find a polite word.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Heinous assholes?” tapping your thumb against the back of his hand, “It’s a lot easier than I thought it’d be, at least. I’ve only wonder <em>three whole </em>times if you’re in your right mind.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I mean, I’m not. But that’s something else entirely,” glancing over at you with that unwavering smile, “I like you, okay?” making sure to lock his widened eyes with yours before turning them back to the road, “Like <em>a lot.”</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Well maybe don’t say a lot when you tell Arin. The last thing I need is him to fire me.Ya know,” laughing as you pulled into the lot, “‘Cause of the divorce that is <em>totally </em>happening.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You keep up with that I’m gonna make out with you in this <em>very </em>parking lot,” pushing his door open for emphasis as you did the same, hopping out just a bit quicker than he could, “I’m serious!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I know you are and if I were any other girl,” planning to continue your sentence when you’d rounded the front of the car once again. </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Apparently Dan wasn’t too happy about the self deprecation that was about to fall from your lips because he stopped them with his own. It really was hard to make a good argument when he was kissing you so softly, his hands gripping both yours as the small of your break pressed into the warm hood of the car. Which reminds you that you’re in the parking lot. They could see you both from the offices. But he hums, a happy noise that makes your stomach do flips while you brain melted. A goofy smile plastered on your face when he finally pulled away.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I warned you,” he states, releasing one hand and tugging you towards the building.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You nod, “Yes, yes you did.” </p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>*</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The day had been spent redoing the coding on the merch site, which seemed to have been written by a rabid hamster. Lunch a slow eating of the sandwich you’d left behind in favor of cheesecake the night before as you scrolled through what you’d already written to make sure there wasn’t something you were missing. Which ended up putting you a head of schedule and leaving you nothing to do once 3 hit. Well, you were sure there was more to do but that was all that was on your radar for the week. Which meant a guilt free weekend. No doubt spent with-</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“She’s alive!” he shouts walking down the hall was you were standing to work the cricks from your bones, “Have you ever seen you just like zoned out like that? Sandwich just in your mouth. You’re not eating it, why is it there?” he rambles making his way towards you as you shrugged, “It’s okay to stop working for like five minutes when you’re here, y’know?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You shook your head before holding your neck from the back as you rolled it, “That’s when the voices come,” you spoke ominously, used to collapsing back into your chair and now not quite sure what to do now. With Dan.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“The one’s that sound like me telling you that you’re cute. No wait, that’s now...” gripping you by the hips and pulling you towards him, “He’s currently staring at the television in an unspeakable rage.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I’m sure he has some sort of radar,” you whisper conspiratorially, watching his grin grow when you slid your arms around his shoulders, if a bit shakily, “Watch.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>You lean forward, almost wishing you hadn’t because just as you had predicted, “<em>Really guys?”</em></p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“You’re right,” he hisses, eyes widening as he looked over his shoulder, “What do we do?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I assume, much like Jurassic Park, that if we don’t move then he can’t see us,” both of you dramatically standing still.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“This is unreasonably adorable,” gesturing to both of you, “I hate it!” he shouts, stopping his foot and making all three of you break into laughter.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>11/24/2020 - in light of the conversation that dan and arin had on the 35 stream i will not be writing a second chapter of this fic as it was going to be smut. as dan has made very clear that type of stuff makes him uncomfortable (something i didn’t know when i first started brainstorming this) and i think it would be incredibly disrespectful to post a part two. i do apologize for anyone that was looking forward to it. i’d just feel like a huge dick.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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